This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(f) of the earlier application for European Community Plant Breeders Rights, Application Number 2007/1925 filed Sep. 3, 2007.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dianthus that is grown for use as a flowering plant for pots and containers and as a hardy perennial for the garden and landscape. The new cultivar is known botanically as Dianthus×hybrida and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘BRIGHT EYES’.
‘BRIGHT EYES’ is a complex hybrid plant that is the product of a long term breeding program conducted in a greenhouse environment in Houndspool, Dawlish, Devon, United Kingdom. The primary focus of the breeding program is to produce new cultivars of Dianthus that exhibit unique growth habit and flower colors. The inventor selected ‘BRIGHT EYES’ in 2002 for its double flowers which are colored white with a deep plum red center.
‘BRIGHT EYES’ resulted from the controlled pollination between an unreleased and unpatented Dianthus previously raised by the inventor and known by its code name Dianthus ‘Tricia’ as female parent plant, and an unknown Dianthus as male parent plant.
‘BRIGHT EYES’ is distinguishable from the female parent whose flowers are pale pink with a dark eye. The male parent is unknown and cannot be described.
The varieties of Dianthus which are considered by the inventor to most closely resemble ‘BRIGHT EYES’ are Dianthus ‘Cranmere Pool’ (unpatented) and Dianthus ‘Lady Madonna’ (unpatented). The flowers of ‘Cranmere Pool’ are more double and are larger than the flowers of ‘BRIGHT EYES’. The margins of the flower petals of ‘Lady Madonna’ are more deeply fimbriated than the margins of the flower petals of ‘BRIGHT EYES’. ‘BRIGHT EYES’ is also a more vigorous plant than ‘Lady Madonna’.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by the inventor in 2002 in a cultivated area of Houndspool, United Kingdom. The method of asexual propagation used was vegetative cuttings. Since that time the characteristics of the new cultivar have been determined stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.